Young Woodland mom succeeds on her terms

For the first time in a decade a Woodland student was among the recipients of the Morgan Scholarship, an enhancement of Planned Parenthood's Teen Success program.

Chelseann Lambert, 19, was among six young mothers rewarded recently for their efforts with scholarships to help them pursue higher education goals.

Lambert has already completed a semester at Woodland Community College and was awarded $1,000 scholarship.

The teen spent 91 weeks in the Teen Success program Woodland center and graduated from Cache Creek High School in 2012.

"He's crazy, he's my world and I wouldn't have it any other way," said Lambert of her son Emilio, now 3, at a luncheon held in Sacramento. "I wouldn't be half the person I am without this program."

Lambert became pregnant with her son at age 15 and has since parted ways with his father. She plans to earn her degree in psychology so she can go on to counsel other young women who will go through the same things she's experiencing.

Teen Success supports pregnant and parenting teens within Planned Parenthood Mar Monte's 27-county region throughout California, including Yolo. Participants, ages 12 to 19, commit to attending weekly meetings for at least one year, maintain their family size and work toward completing their secondary education. Topics include early childhood literacy, nutrition, goal setting and a general network for moms to share their experiences.

The Morgan Scholarship, founded in 2000, is a competitive process open to members who have attended at least 40 Teen Success meetings, submitted letters of recommendation and written an essay explaining their educational goals, according to Planned Parenthood.

"I knew she wasn't going to fail," said Lambert's mother, Collene Claypool, also a teen mom. "She comes from a long line of strong women. (Chelseann) is awesome. She's doing really good. She's a really good mom. I'm really proud of her."

Sacramento's Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby was the luncheon's featured speaker.

A teen mom herself, Ashby shared her experience of getting pregnant with her first son, Nate, at age 19.

"Life would never be the same because it wasn't just about me anymore," she said.

Ashby graduated from Sacramento High School, a student in its Visual and Performing Arts Program, with plans of being a dancer.

After having her son at age 20 and the changes her body underwent during the emergency cesarean section to birth him, Ashby's life changed course.

She enrolled in American River College and was soon recruited to UC Davis due to her high test scores. Ashby graduated from UCD in two years as a full-time student, worker and mother.

A chance meeting led her to the decision to enroll in McGeorge School of Law.

"I thought I didn't deserve to go because I couldn't keep up," recounted Ashby. The school's dean encouraged her, saying "if people like you never go to law school then we'll never have people like you developing policy."

Ashby encouraged the women to pursue careers where they can affect change, and told them to not sweat the small stuff.

"Things are going to happen. So what? Keep going," she urged. "Those things don't mean anything in the long run. They don't define you."

Ashby's son Nate, now 18, graduated from Christian Brothers High School this year. The vice mayor has been married for 11 years and has two more children, including her first baby girl born about five weeks ago. Each of her kids are nine years apart.

"You can have that experience too when you're ready," Ashby told listeners. "I learned to make sure the support system I needed was in place and it was very rewarding -- even the hard parts."

Local supporters of Planned Parenthood's Mar Monte Teen Success program include the city of Woodland Community Development Block Program, Yocha Dehe Community Fund and the Yolo Family Resource Center.